Islamophobia in the West: The Home-Sown Threat
18-08-2007
"Of course
the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who
determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along
whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a
communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to
the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they
are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and
exposing the country to greater danger." Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
On August 17th, 2007 Raed Jarrar, a California-based Iraqi peace activist and US
Permanent Resident, was forced to cover a t-shirt he was wearing that said WE
WILL NOT BE SILENT in Arabic and English. He was informed by JFK Airport
security officials and Jet Blue Airways that he could not board the plane to
return to his home in California unless he complied.
On August 9th, the principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, Debbie
Almontaser, resigned under pressure after she was lambasted by the media for
publicly explaining that the word "intifada" literally means "shaking off" in
Arabic. The New York Sun had been relentlessly hostile calling the school a
place that could "groom future radicals." August 15th marked the release of an
NYPD document entitled, Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat[1].
Billed as a study, the 70-plus page article is a mound of rhetoric and public
manipulation that comes directly from the pages of Hitler's Germany and is an
attempt to instigate fear and arouse further suspicion of Muslims in New York
City. It is particularly interesting to note that it seems to be a deliberate
attempt to justify the arrest and persecution of us, The Islamic Thinkers
Society: the allegation being that…”even in the virtual world, this organization
successfully recruits, indoctrinates, and trains aspiring extremists (p. 72). We
are free from all of these accusations. On the contrary, our struggle is
intellectual & political and will remain that way despite the fear-monger’s
suggestion that we are fast-approaching their critical JIHADIZATION stage
included in the report.
The inspiration for the T-shirt worn by Raed Jarrar was the White Rose movement
of Nazi-Germany. White Rose (German: die Weiße Rose) was a non-violent
resistance group consisting of a number of students from the University of
Munich and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an anonymous
leaflet campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943, that called for
active opposition to German dictator Adolf Hitler's regime. The core members of
the group were arrested by the Gestapo, convicted, and executed by beheading in
1943. Today, the members of the White Rose are honored in Germany as great
heroes who opposed the Third Reich in the face of deadly danger for such
resistance. They had signed off on several of their documents with the words, WE
WILL NOT BE SILENT and showed bold courageousness in a time of horrendous
atrocities the likes of which have not been seen again until today.
American fascism is slowly gaining progress and recent developments in the
American epic reveal that the great beast is more vulnerable economically,
politically and militarily than it supposed. The consequence of this
vulnerability has spurred, similar to the progression of Nazi-Germany, increased
fascist activity and especially against that perceived enemy, the fundamentalist
Muslims. Under increasing pressure and lack of commitment and support from the
Muslim and non-Muslim community we will continue to engage in our struggle and
oppose oppression throughout the world. We are merely guilty of taking our
religion seriously and of holding views apart from the mainstream. Still, many
are those who have suffered before for similar convictions. Furthermore, we take
great esteem in the life works of visionaries like Syed Qutb who claimed,
'Indeed our words will remain lifeless, barren, devoid of any passion, until we
die as a result of these words… But, to the contrary, we do not pose any
physical threat to the American people and only offer our minority views because
we believe in them and hold them as divine. It is our conviction that like
Pharaoh and the disbelieving oppressors before them, fascism by its very nature
is bound to perish. Therefore, We Will Not be Silent!
"Therefore expound openly what thou art commanded, and turn away from those who join false gods with Allah." (15:94)
Prior to
the revelation of this magnificent verse, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had called the
tribes and his kindred collectively to the peace, justice and truth of Islam,
but as Allah (Most High) sent down the command for him to proclaim publicly his
message and as Muhammad (PBUH) and his few followers at that time took to the
streets insulting the false gods of the Quraish and commanding justice and
forbidding the evil idolatrous practices in the society, it was inevitable that
the evil-doers would revolt and plot and plan viciously against them. They
started with slander and taunting and called Muhammad (PBUH) insane and
bewitched. They ridiculed and mocked the converts who were not of nobility. They
distorted and lied about the actual teachings of Islam. Their intellectuals
challenged the validity of the Quran. And eventually, after realizing that none
of these tactics prevented the growth of the religion, they resorted to torture
and punishment. The tactics of the oppressors and disbelievers continue today,
and this situation is nothing other than an increase in persecution and
oppression and an alteration of tactic. Still, inshAllah, they will not be
victorious.
We can only hope to imitate the methodology of the Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH)
companions at this stage and seek to take from their example in response to
these times of potential attack. During the Pledge of Aqaba the members of the
Ansar, those helpers of the Muslims and those promised to be loved by Allah,
pledged to protect and promote Islam. Ahmad reported in his Saheeh that Jabir (RAA)
narrated in regard to the pledge that: “We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! To what
shall we pledge?” The Prophet (PBUH) answered:
1) To listen and obey in all difficulty and ease.
2) To spend in plenty as well as in scarcity.
3) To enjoin good and forbid evil.
4) In Allah's service, you will fear the censure of none.
5) To aid me when I come to you, and protect me from anything you protect
yourself, your spouses and children from.
Then Paradise is in store for you!
It is high time that Muslims follow this divine pledge and not fear the blame of
the blamers. There is no need to justify or water down the religion of Islam.
All of it is revelation and is quite unlike anything the West conceives of as
they have adopted a view that assumes religion and contemporary science and
progress are not compatible. They have assumed that religion is but tradition
and continue to consider anyone who takes it seriously as fundamentalist or
fanatic.
Ray Kelly, Commissioner of the NYPD, stated that "Many of these plots and cases
that we perceived as being sort of an outside threat, really actually are more
of an inside threat in the sense that radicalization drove them.[2]” “The threat
is real; this is not some bogey man we are creating here," said Rand Corporation
terrorism expert Brian Jenkins, who reviewed and contributed to the NYPD
report…"There are individuals who are proselytizing, inciting angry young men to
go down this path." The report identified mosques, bookstores, cafes, prisons
and flop houses as what it calls "radicalization incubators" that provide
"extremist fodder or fuel for radicalization." The leader of an American Arab
civil rights group labeled the NYPD report as "unfortunate stereotyping" and at
odds with federal law enforcement findings that the threat from homegrown
terrorists was minimal. The Islamic Thinkers Society was given a full page
analysis on page 72 of the report and the conclusion read that “Thus, even in
the virtual world, this organization successfully recruits, indoctrinates, and
trains aspiring extremists.” And then, lo and behold, the curious reader flips
to page 73 where they are introduced to the JIHADIZATION STAGE of the NYPD
report. This stage is unlike others in that, “While the other phases of
radicalization may take place gradually, over two to three years, this
jihadization component can be a very rapid process, taking only a few months, or
even weeks to run its course.” And so this disease is progressive and leads
instantly to terrorist behavior and therefore must be prevented at all costs
regardless of law that holds one must actually do something criminal to be
labeled as one.
These attempts to label the organization as one that is prone, apt, and planning
for a terrorist attack serve only to justify intervention at STAGE 3 –
INDOCTRINATION. This may subsequently set a precedent in “fighting terrorism at
home” by making one guilty by thought and association prior to even engaging in
activity. It would also relieve the NYC mass from the burden of being challenged
intellectually and politically: so much for free speech and freedom of religion.
We brand the report a conspiracy and an attempt by the establishment to use us
as guinea pigs for the further usurpation of domestic rights and liberties.
These efforts resemble the attempts the disbelievers of Quraish used against the
Muslims and show a progression in animosity and hatred for the truth. It is
their incessant utilization of their resources against Islam that eventually
leads to their destruction as Allah ‘Azza wa Jall says,
"The Unbelievers spend their wealth to
hinder (man) from the path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend; but in
the end they will have (only) regrets and sighs; at length they will be
overcome: and the Unbelievers will be gathered together to Hell."(8:36)
Economically the American god-dollar is in chaos with the currency being printed
like a newspaper in order to solve the bottoming out of the housing sector and
the inaccessibility to credit. Eventually this will become a serious cause of
concern for the citizenry and much like Nazi Germany may eventually be utilized
as a justification for austere economic policies that further decrease the
American quality of life. Politically the nation is encumbered by an
administration with 16 months left in office and a determination to promote
increased war and more destruction. They are at the same time faced with an
election which will certainly spell doom for Muslims regardless of the outcome
as neo-liberal policy differs from neo-conservative ideology only in that they
wait to stab you from behind rather than directly from the front. Culturally,
the American way of life resembles the fall of Rome as a bread and circus
economy has deadened all art and culture and beauty is reserved for ‘shock and
awe.’ Americans are dying earlier, suffering from depression and drug addiction
at exorbitant rates and rape, murder, violence and subsequent incarceration
plague the society in greater numbers than anywhere else in the world. Still,
their priorities are quite easily confirmed. In early August the US Congress
approved a new $460 billion defense budget with the full support of the
Democrats by a vote of 395 to 13. The US military budget is now larger than the
military budgets of the next fourteen biggest spenders combined, and over eight
times larger than the second largest military spender, China. The budget did not
include nuclear weapons research, maintenance or production, which is in the
Department of Energy budget, nor does it include the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan which are largely funded through extra-budgetary supplements, which
in 2007 amounted to $120 billion? So in reality the total US defense budget is
closer to $680 billion out of a total federal budget of $2.9 trillion. The
department of defense will spend more of US Taxpayer's money then any other
department, even more then the department of social security. Yes indeed, things
in America are quite like Nazi Germany and increasingly so.
These threats of homegrown terrorism are bound to stir up provocation and loud
outcries from the citizenry for the arrest of Muslims who have entered a phase
of early conversion to fundamentalist Islam. One envisions an era where any
Muslim who gets serious about his religion and adopts the same view that
millions of academics, intellectuals and concerned citizens hold, that American
Empire needs to be stopped immediately, shall be placed under surveillance and,
or arrest. Therefore, an internal threat to the homeland can help sedate more of
the public who still witnesses small pockets of individuals working hard to stop
the War in Iraq and prevent war in Iran. Arrests at home may help justify the
stripping of domestic rights and deter attention away from their own continuous
terrorism, their killing of innocent civilians, women and children especially,
across the globe all in the name of the Global War on Terror and all while
pointing their fingers at “homegrown terrorists” as a justification for their
crimes.
They rip the Muslims of wealth and natural resources. They attack the religion.
They kill our brothers, sisters and children. They compromise our honor and our
dignity and dare we utter words of protest, we are called terrorists. Rather
than hide in confinement and conceal the fact that one loves justice and
believes in the struggle against oppression, why not take to the streets and
loudly and proudly express the view that no one is planning to strap explosives
to themselves and blow one’s self up, but that no one is going to sit idly by
and watch the massacre of millions of Muslims the world over either. The best
thing America can do is improve the social problems facing its own society and
stay in its own land far away from Muslim soil. As long as America continues in
its imperialist path Muslims will resist. They must resist. It is their way of
life and no matter how much money Bush or local authorities pay sheiks and imams
to ignore the Quran it is right there for all to read and understand. We ask
Allah for the strength and courage to continue resistance despite their lies
against us.
They (the disbelievers, the
Jews and the Christians) want to extinguish Allah's Light (with which Muhammad
SAW has been sent - Islamic Monotheism) with their mouths, but Allah will not
allow except that His Light should be perfected even though the Kafiroon
(disbelievers) hate (it).(9:32)
Certainly the Christian-right and conservatives would applaud the arrest,
detention and conviction of a non-violent group that holds anti-American Empire
views. But the fact is that the general citizenry of the country would probably
turn a blind eye and especially because the group was Islamist. Still, our reply
is that the Quran is the word of God and that Islam is a superior way of life,
that Muhammad (PBUH) is Allah's prophet and final Messenger (PBUH). We hold
these truths to be self-evident for those that think objectively and
independently and we warn America of an impending doom if it does not stop
oppressing and killing Muslims across the globe. We will continue to insert our
views into the public debate and hope that we are not convicted on some
pre-conceived intention, some pre-emptive engagement as you accuse us of
progression toward jihadization. We do not believe that it is the US
constitution that gives us the right to challenge intellectually and rationally
what we perceive to be oppression and injustice. We consider it a right bestowed
upon us by our Creator. We do not see where the politicization of Islam
contradicts any religions teachings and we will continue to strive for the
return of an Islamic Khilafah, the sovereignty of government, and the spread of
Islam across the globe. There is no compulsion in our religion. We are not here
to hurt anyone and we are quite aware that you consider us strange and that our
view contradicts with the status quo. So too, did the White Rose organization in
Nazi-Germany. So too, did our Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) message. You persecute
us, under lies and deception, and we reply as those before us did and those who
are sure to follow.